Social media involves the social interaction among users that allow users to create, share or exchange information and ideas in virtual communities and networks. Social media typically uses highly interactive mobile and web-based technologies for users to converse and share information on a real-time basis and is in various client forms such as Internet forums, weblogs, social blogs, microblogging, wikis, social networks, podcasts, etc.
Social media clients, along with other types of clients, may request a user's personal information, such as a mobile weather application executing on a mobile device requesting a user's location to provide local weather data to the user. Many times, clients request personal data in an attempt to learn more about their users and their users' contacts. For example, a client may request personal information such as a user's age, hobbies, location, etc. Clients may also request sensitive personal information such as the user's income level, street address, names of family members, etc. Many times, clients may request personal data from a user but do not provide the user with a reason as to why the user should provide the personal data or what benefit the user receives from providing the personal data.